The first day of the rest of the Lakers’ lives began with a morning shootaround without one very familiar face present and ended with the newest member of the team needing only seconds to announce his presence later in the evening.

On the day after the trade deadline, after they gave their roster a makeover, the Lakers went back to the business of winning basketball games when they faced the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.

The Lakers began the post-Derek Fisher era with a 97-92 victory over the Timberwolves in front of a sellout crowd of 18,997 at Staples Center, their fifth consecutive victory overall and their 19 th in a row over Minnesota. What’s more, the Lakers are a league-best 19-2 at home this season.

“It was very difficult,” Kobe Bryant said of playing without Fisher, who was dealt Thursday to the Houston Rockets. “I’m not used to it. I’ve been with him pretty much my entire career. – So it’s very different. It’s pretty weird. – “I don’t want to get that sentimental about it.”

Ramon Sessions, Fisher’s erstwhile replacement, made his Lakers debut after a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers and scored seven points. He also had four rebounds and five assists in 19 minutes, 26 seconds in a reserve role. Imagine what he might do after he actually practices with his teammates.

“It’s good to get that first one out of the way,” Sessions said. “Now I’m looking forward to getting with the guys and learning more. I need to learn all the sets (offensive plays). Being a point guard, I feel I need to know where everybody needs to be.

“I want to learn it all.”

Bryant scored a team-leading 28 points on 9-for-20 shooting to guide the Lakers to a season-best 12 games over .500 at 28-16. The first-place Lakers also extended their lead to three games over the idle Clippers in the Pacific Division.

Bryant soared for a dunk after cutting behind the defense to accept a pass from teammate Steve Blake to give the Lakers a 50-36 lead in the first half. It looked like it might be an easy night for the Lakers, who needed overtime to win their last two games.

The Lakers led from start to finish, including by 16 points in the third quarter. But they struggled to put away the Timberwolves (22-23) in the fourth and the game got tight down the stretch.

Former UCLA standout Kevin Love, who missed the last two games against the Lakers because of first flu symptoms and then back spasms, led the Timberwolves with 27 points and 15 rebounds. Nikola Pekovic added 20 points and 12 rebounds.

The Timberwolves were no match for the Lakers’ size or their depth, however. As ever, the Lakers’ best players were their best players. This time, they got an assist from a newcomer, however.

“I could see his quickness,” Lakers coach Mike Brown said when asked for his first impression of Sessions. “He’s got a second, third and probably a fourth gear and beat everyone down the floor (several times). It was good to see.”

Sessions entered the game to a rousing ovation with the Lakers leading by only 18-15 with 2:51 remaining in the first quarter. The cheers grew louder as he dribbled quickly down the court and then drove toward the basket.

He needed only 13 seconds to convert a floating jumper from six feet for his first points with his new team. His other baskets came on a pair of determined drives.

The Lakers’ lead swelled from three points when Sessions entered the game to 42-27 when he exited with 4:40 left in the half. They led 50-41 by halftime.

Assistant coach Quin Snyder sat next to him during the early minutes of the game and pointed out where he should be in the offense.

“He was calling out the plays, trying to make me aware of what’s going on,” Sessions said when asked after the game what Snyder was telling him.

Elliott Teaford covers the Clippers and the NBA for the Southern California News Group. He has written about hockey for the past five years and is looking forward to thawing out after so many days and nights sitting in frozen rinks. He also covered the Lakers for five seasons, including their back-to-back NBA championships in 2009 and '10. He once made a jump shot over future Utah Jazz center Mark Eaton during a pickup game in 1980 at Cypress College.

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